Possible suspect on tape in slaying of tourist

Jen Lawson

Thursday, May 1, 2003 | 11:13 a.m.

A tourist from Utah who was bludgeoned to death and left in an alley Monday morning argued with her boyfriend hours before her body was found, but Metro Police don't consider him a suspect in her death.

Instead police would like to identify and locate a man captured on a Bellagio surveillance video speaking with the victim, Simone Hirst, 39, in the hotel's valet area several hours before she was killed.

Hirst, of Park City, Utah, who has relatives in Las Vegas, went out with her boyfriend Sunday night. They were arguing when they returned to the Bellagio, Lt. Tom Monahan said.

Her longtime boyfriend is not considered a suspect, and has returned home to Park City. Monahan declined to identify the 50-year-old man, with whom Hirst had a 12-year relationship.

"It's not absolute, because nothing is, but we saw him going one way and she went another way," he said. "He wanted to go back to the room and she didn't."

A hotel security video shows an unknown man talking to Hirst in the valet area in the wee hours of Monday morning, Monahan said, but he declined to describe the man.

About 7:30 a.m. Monday, Hirst was found in an alley near 11th Street and Stewart Avenue, almost seven miles from the hotel. She died of a blow to the head, Monahan said.

Some of Hirst's property was missing, but Monahan said robbery isn't considered a motive.

It's rare for a tourist to be killed in Las Vegas, Monahan said.

"I can't recall of one," he said. "It reaffirms what I've always said -- if you are not involved in drugs, if you're not a gang member or not in an abusive relationship, you are very unlikely to be a victim of a homicide."

Metro has handled 22 homicides in April.